I have had to put in a new water pump this morning. All of a sudden yesterday there was no water. Luckily I wasn't in the shower at the time. As I live out of town the house water all comes from my two tanks. Bore water is used to water the garden but is too high in calcium to use in the house. We have had such a lot of rain that the tanks are full. This is so different to a few years ago when I had to buy a couple of truckloads of water. Then it was a case of choosing which plants to keep alive by watering with buckets. Now it is raining every few days and last Wednesday we had 60ml overnight and the causeway at the bottom of my road was too full to drive through. I have lived here for about eight years now and have never seen our road cut. La Nina? I have a tin roof on my house and at the moment I am listening to the rain on it and looking out to the range of hills across the valley. My house has a wide veranday looking towards the hills and I seem to spend a lot of time out there and have painted it a number of times. I have moved all my potplants to the corner of the verandah to catch the rain. I have some herbs, some Jasmine, an ornamental grape vines and pots of native plants. The birds are loving the rain too. Three of my potplants are in coconute-fibre lined hanging baskets. The birds have used this to build their nests. I have made it very easy for them. We have finches, cockatoos, galahs and sometimes King Parrots. Every evening about four to five kangaroos come down beside the house. We also have magpies - two of them are on the verandah railing looking at me now. The young squark constantly for food.These are some images of paintings I did from my verandah a few years ago.
The paintings here were done when we were in a drought period "the worst draught in 100 years" it was said.
3 comments:
My mother would love you. She would probably take tea with you on the verandah, or walk about the garden with you naming all the plants. Common and latin names, of course.
I would love all the creatures you live with. My parents live in LA, where water is also scarce. They put in a well, too, and their pump died recently. It is a very different lifestyle, and, I think, one that is better because you know the value of things, like something so simple as water.
I enjoy your paintings. You can tell that the act of painting is such a happy one for you. Keep it up!
My garden is a wild one really. It is full of native plants - ones that grow in the bush. I had an exhibition in Sydney a few years ago that was about the drought but many people didn't seem to understand the consciousness of natural forces that is so important to those living out of town. I suppose I wouldn't have either a few years ago as I grew up in cities.
I stuffed up putting the comment in here I think. I am a bit new at leaving comments.
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